Weekly Business News from Myanmar

Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) approved USD $ 87 million a new commercial Center project in Yangon
Myanmar Investment Commission has approved a new Commercial Center project, which will include a shopping mall, residential apartments and offices. The $87 million project will be developed by a Hong Kong-Myanmar joint-venture LESSO HOME Development (Yangon) Company. The project will be implemented on 80 acres of land at the corner of Yadanar Road and the Bago River in Dagon Seikkan Township. “The project will include parking space for over 1,200 cars. Moreover, people can visit and relax at the Shopping Mall,” said U Thant Sin Lwin, Acting Director General of Directorate of Investment and Company Administration. “Before approving a big investment proposal, we first looked at its potential impact on the environment,” he added.
Government demand more detailed documentation for investment proposals from the prospective investors starting from August 1
The government has announced it will require more detailed documentation for investment proposals from August 1 following an investigation by The Myanmar Times into repeated transparency failures under the investment body. In a notification signed on July 18 but released on July 22, the Ministry of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations announced a series of changes to the proposal form (Form 2) and endorsement application forms to both the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) at the Union level (Form 4-a) and to regional and state investment commissions (Form 4-b). The changes will allow the ministry to scrutinise business proposals more effectively and with more information, the notification says. Under the new Investment Law which was enforced two years ago, regional or state commissions can approve proposals of up to US$5 million while any projects involving a higher amount will need a green light from the Union MIC.
Proximity Finance signed a Ks 5 million back to back funding agreement with Yoma Bank to expand micro-lending to smallholders
Proximity Finance, the microfinance arm of Yangon-based Proximity Designs, a social enterprise outfit, has signed a K5 billion back-to-back funding agreement with Yoma Bank in a move to expand micro-lending to smallholders. Back-to-back financing in this instance refers to an arrangement where Yoma Bank provides credit in local currency to local microfinance institutions like Proximity Finance. Proximity Finance then uses a hedging strategy where the US dollar acts as the hedge against exchange-rate fluctuations. The semi-collateralised funding will be provided by MCE Social Capital, a nonprofit organisation based in San Francisco, on a three-year tenor. ‘’This back-to-back structure of funding allows more investment into Myanmar in hard currency while allowing microfinance institutions to repay in local currency,’’ Proximity Finance CEO Hedvig Sundberg said in a press release.
Foreign investors are eyeing to do their investment in the energy, hotel and marine sectors in Rakhine State
Foreign investors are interested in the energy, hotel and marine sectors in Rakhine State, said Thant Zin Lwin, Acting Director-General of the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration (DICA) Currently, according to the Myanmar Investment Law, the Myanmar Investment Commission (MIC) is largely dealing with the types of investments worth five million US dollars and above, where Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), huge investments and impacts are involved. The relevant region and state governments scrutinize and approve the investments worth less than five million US dollars. Rakhine State Chief Minister U Nyi Pu at the Rakhine investment show said The Rakhine State government will give the nod to the investors in a hurried manner. Foreign countries interested to make investments in Rakhine State are: Singapore, South Korea, China and India. Currently, Singapore leads the FDI list in Rakhine State. The energy sector sees the huge FDI investments in Rakhine State while the hotel and tourism sector tops the list of the citizen investments.”
Myanmar exported 5 million tonnes of crude oil via the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline in the first half (H1) which is up 2.7 percent year on year
China imported 5 million tonnes of crude oil via the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline in the first half (H1), up 2.7 percent year on year, hellenicshippingnews.com reported quoting Kunming Customs in southwest China’s Yunnan Province. The customs statistics available on Sunday showed that the import value amounted to 17.27 billion yuan (about 2.51 billion U.S. dollars), up 9.2 percent year on year with the average import price reaching 3,443.8 yuan per tonne, up 6.4 percent year on year.
Tunn Star Logistics Company opened its new 60,000 square foot warehouse in Mingalardone Industrial Zone in order to store more products and increase their distribution capacity
In order to store more product and increase their distribution capacity, on July 3, 2019. the Tunn Star Logistics Company opened a new 60,000-square foot warehouse in Mingaladon Industrial Zone. The company will store around two million liters of engine oil in the new facility, and thence distribute them across the country. Daw Lin Lin Tun, Managing Director of Tunn Star Logistics, told Myanmar Business Today: “We have been distributing engine oil across the country, with our main base in Yangon. As our business has grown, however, we have had difficulties in storing our products, so we built this new warehouse.” The company was established in 1999, and since 2007 has been the sole distributor for lubricants produced by Thailand’s PTT Public Company, Limited.
Myanmar authorities are planning to lift licensing requirements for some import items with the aim for trade facilitation
Licenses for importing some of the over 4,000 products into the country will be done away with as part of the move to facilitate trade and ensure Myanmar adheres to international trade regulations. Ministry of Commerce assistant secretary U Khin Maung Lwin said import licenses will be done away with in a move to facilitate freer trade. “Some items will be liberalized but not all. We mainly aim for trade facilitation,” he said.
The Chili Market and Technology Development Association will sign a MOU with a Vietnam based company this month for the exporting of chilis to Vietnam
The Chili Market and Technology Development Association will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with a Viet Nam-based company this month for export of chilis to Viet Nam. Six containers of chilis are expected to be exported to Viet Nam every month under the agreement. The price at which chilis will be procured from farmers for export will be calculated on a daily basis according to the prevailing market rate. “The price of chili is on the decline because we don’t have demand from China. That is why we have turned to Viet Nam to purchase chilis from local farmers. Once local farmers agree, contract farming will be conducted on a regular basis. At present, we will purchase chillies from local farmers first because they are facing difficulties due to the price fall,” said Daw Ohnmar Kyaw, the chairperson of the Chili Market and Technology Development Association.
In partnership with Myanmar Coffee Association, USAID is assisting local private enterprises in the coffee sector in gaining access to the international coffee market and cultivating higher quality coffee
Local coffee roasters who participated in USAID activities celebrated their achievements throughout the program in Yangon, Wednesday. In 2013, U.S. Agency for International Development, USAID launched 27 million USD Value Chains for Rural Development Project in Myanmar together with Myanmar Coffee Association and Winrock International as the technical team. The project aims to promote Myanmar's transition to a more inclusive and open economy, to increase bilateral trade and investment as well as to encourage local private enterprises in the coffee sector to the world class coffee for Myanmar consumers and for export. Chairman, Myanmar Coffee Association, Myo Aye said “After about 4 or 5 years, Myanmar coffee industry is well-developed in a certain level of quality, market linkage and capacity building with the support of Myanmar Coffee Association and USAID…Coffee lovers like Myanmar coffee because we produce very good quality under very good technology and very good treatment. So, we can export to international also.”
Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holding Public Company (MTSH) is keeping eye on Special Economic Zones with the view to investments
Myanmar Thilawa SEZ Holdings Public Company (MTSH) is watching events carefully before making some important investment decisions. In particular, it is keeping an eye on the discussions regarding Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone and Deep Sea Port in the troubled Rakhine State, as well as those regarding Myitkyina Economic Development Zone in Kachin State. Ko Myo Myint Aung, the Head of Finance for MTSH, said: “The Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone project is under negotiations between officials from Myanmar and China. We will decide where to make investments in the economic zone based on the results of the negotiations.” The Myanmar Government and China’s CITI Consortium are working together to implement the Kyaukpyu Special Economic Zone and Deep Sea Port project. Meanwhile, the Kachin State government and the Yunnan Tengchong Heng Yong Investment Company (YTHIC) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in May 2018 to develop the Myitkyina Economic Development Zone.